Terauchi Masatake

Terauchi Masatake (5 February 1852-3 November 1919) was Prime Minister of Japan from 9 October 1916 to 29 September 1918, succeeding Okuma Shigenobu and preceding Hara Takashi. Terauchi had also served as Governor-General of Korea from 1 October 1910 to 9 October 1916, preceding Hasegawa Yoshimichi.

Biography
Terauchi Masatake was born in the Choshu Domain in 1852, the son of a samurai. As a young soldier, he fought in the Boshin War against the Tokugawa Shogunate and was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army. He lost his right hand during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, but this would not prove as an impediment to his career; Terauchi served as a military attache to France in 1882, served as Inspector General of Military Education in 1898, and served as War Minister from 1902 to 1911. The Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War occurred during his first term as war minister. In 1911, he was made a count, and he was sent to replace Ito Hirobumi as governor of Korea, becoming its first military leader (Governor-General) after serving as Resident Governor. Terauchi was involved with land reform plans, doing so with noble intentions; however, the Korean people were angry at the Japanese government seizing their land.

In 1916, Masatake became Prime Minister of Japan, serving as an independent politician. That same year, he was promoted to Marshal. His cabinet consisted solely of career bureaucrats, as he distrusted career civilian politicians. During this time, he also held the posts of Foreign Minister and Finance Minister. During his tenure, he pursued an aggressive foreign policy, supporting the Chinese warlord Duan Qirui in exchange for increased rights in Manchuria. He also dispatched Imperial Japanese Navy ships to the South Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean during World War I, honoring the alliance with Britain; Japan seized German colonies in Qingdao and the Pacific Ocean. After the war, Japan joined the Allies in the Siberian Intervention, sending troops to assist Russian White Army forces against Bolshevik Red Army forces during the Russian Civil War. Terauchi resigned in 1918 as the result of rice riots that were caused by postwar inflation. His son Hisachi Terauchi would also become a Marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army.